Although previous research has explored psychological constructs such as mindset growth, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy in general educational contexts, there remains a notable gap in understanding how these factors jointly influence aesthetic engagement in music education. Specifically, limited empirical evidence exists on how mindset growth contributes to emotional and cognitive development that shapes music students’ aesthetic experiences. To address this gap, the present study provides an empirical investigation into the interrelationships among mindset growth, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and music aesthetics among university-level music students in China. Based on Social Cognitive Theory and Theory of Positive Emotions, the present study included 2,369 students in 32 universities surveyed with validated and contextually adapted instruments. The constructs were assessed by using the multi-item scales for three aspects of music aesthetics (aesthetic cognition, aesthetic emotion, and aesthetic behavior) and students’ psychological orientations. The data were analyzed by the means of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using AMOS 24. The results indicate that an incremental mindset growth is a strong and significant predictor of adolescents’ emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, which again predict their aesthetic appreciation and engagement. These results present theoretical contributions to the fields of both cognitive and affective psychology when considered from within the context of music education and suggest practical benefits of introducing mindset growth and emotional development strategies into music curricula as well.
Lin et al. (Thu,) studied this question.